JG: We’ve always been very supportive of Crossrail. We recognise how important it is for London as well but what we can’t do before the election is finished is write a budget when we’re not in government. And so we, we can, we’ve said that we know it’s important, we know that the tube infrastructure and investing in, that’s important, but we can’t do a line by line budget because we are in such a parlous state with public finances.

NF: So Crossrail will continue but you don’t know how?

JG: What, all I….

NF: So it won’t continue?

JG: We, we can’t, we can’t give a line by line budget on projects across government, including Crossrail. Everything’s up for review but we think it’s important.

NF: I’m sure this is my stupidity. Will it continue or won’t it continue?

JG: I can’t give a guarantee that it will continue.

NF: So it might not, it can go the other way? The Conservatives could scrap Crossrail?

JG: It’s possible but at the end of the day we’ve always said that we think it’s important project and, and actually the reason this is important is we, we want to be responsible so we can’t pretend that we can write an entire budget outside of government. We’ve said we’ll do one within 50 days of getting into government if we get elected and we will then provide some clarity and certainty.

Labour's London Minister Tessa Jowell who took part in the debate with Justine said today:

"It is now clear that Conservatives will not commit to the construction of Crossrail, which is vital for business, jobs and economic growth in London. This in stark contrast to Labour's clear and unequivocal commitment to Crossrail which will add ten per cent to London's transport capacity, create 14,000 jobs in the construction period alone and add an estimated £20billion to London's economy."

Liberal Democrat London Transport spokesperson Caroline Pidgeon said:

"The Conservatives are all over the place when it comes to Crossrail. The Conservative Mayor of London never tires of boasting about his support for the project and Conservative run Kensington and Chelsea Council are even demanding a further new station which will add to the cost of the project. Yet at the same time a London Conservative MP, speaking on behalf of the national party, is simply unable to provide a clear assurance that this much needed project will be completed."

Boris Johnson has repeatedly failed to get Cameron to commit to the project, even pushing Cameron live on air last week.

Until recently I had assumed that there was no way they would can it, not least because of the huge embarrassment it would cause Boris.

However, it now seems more and more likely that they will at the very least scale back the size of the project.

David Cameron should now spell out exactly where he stands before London goes to the polls.

16 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Much may depend on whether Milton becomes Lord Milton as has been widely rumoured. He would be able to put a good argument for keeping it, or at least most of it. The 'Southern' spur - ie from CW into greenwich and SE London has always been expensive and likely to be cut, whoever wins.

"The Conservatives' manifesto failed to give a clear commitment on Crossrail and now Shadow London Minister Justine Greening has confirmed it – it is possible that under Cameron and Osborne Crossrail will be axed, and they definitely will not guarantee the scheme will go ahead. This project is about London’s future, with ten per cent more transport capacity linking up all the main centres of jobs in London . It is a measure of how badly wrong the Tories are on securing economic recovery that they cannot give a clear and unequivocal commitment to complete Crossrail. No Londoner, no one from the London business community who wants a secure economic future for the capital, and no one who wants a modernised transport system for London should vote Tory."

“The Mayor’s passion and support for Crossrail is unquenched and he has expressed this very clearly to colleagues and the conservative leadership who understand his view that this is not a want but a must for the capital. Every inch of London will benefit from the jobs, increase in capacity and easing of congestion that Crossrail will bring.”

If labour / lib-dems give an assurance it will go ahead, then that's a whole heap of money they'll have to find; either borrow or take from another project.

While it's fair enough to point out this project's good for London and the conservatives aren't guaranteeing it, it might not be good for the deficit / tax burden / hospitals / or god knows what other budget, so the argument shouldn't surround whether they're promising it or not, that's actually a reasonable stance to take until they've done a full budget review, it's more a case of do you want the winning government to spend its way out of the economic mess or deal with the deficit head on. I for one don't know; it's not as simple as most people ideologically like to think (on both sides of the argument), but I'll not bash their decision in favour of blindly spending money we might be better off using else-where or not spending at all.

"It is extremely worrying for London that the Tories are refusing to commit to support Crossrail. This project is vital for London's future prosperity. It will enable poorer communities to access work and provide the necessary infrastructure to sustain London as a great world city. It has overwhelming support from trade unions and across the political parties in London. And the business community sees Crossrail as central to improving London's transport system.

"In the construction phase, which coincides with this period of recession, it will provide 14,000 jobs for construction workers who would otherwise face unemployment. To scrap a project this large would have a major recessionary impact.

"It is astonishing that Justine Greening, shadow transport secretary, should say she will not guarantee that a project of such strategic and economic importance to the capital like Crossrail will continue. Does she not know that work is already well advanced, for example at Tottenham Court Road?

"Not only does this show a worrying lack of knowledge about the needs of London, the Tories are also showing their true face as job slashers."

The whole crossrail project was a gravy train, no doubt being a premium service to the existing services and infrastructure already in place, hence only for those that are willing to pay the extra will travel on it. so will all this public money be used for the lucky individuals who have there expences picked up by there employers?